Life on Earth Without Marine Life: A Look at Our Future? - Essay Sample

Introduction

How would life on the earth be like without the marine life? Marine, ocean or sea life refers to the animals, plants, and other microscopic organisms (bacteria, viruses, and phytoplankton) that live in the ocean or sea. About 90% of the earth's surface is covered by ocean, and at a fundamental level, sea life affects the nature of the earth (Kuhn et al., 2015). However, marine life has been greatly affected by human activities such as overfishing and pollution, which harm marine organisms. These human activities have resulted in disruption of the marine ecosystem, and food chain as some fish species become extinct, for example, whales and dolphins. To solve this problem of overfishing, human beings need to find an alternative to eating fish as it is the major cause of overfishing and marine ecosystem disruption. There are other food types which provide similar nutrients to fish hence control overfishing and allow regrowth of fish supply.

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Overfishing is a great danger to marine creatures and the marine ecosystem as well. It interrupts the marine environment and marine food chain with other marine organisms which are accidentally caught during the fishing process being left on the shores to die. Kurlansky (2015), defined overfishing as the removal of a fish species from a water body at a rate that the fish species cannot replenish in time causing those species to either become under populated or distinct. The population of several large fish species has declined by 90% as a result of overfishing (Kurlansky, 2015). One of the reasons as to why fishermen practice overfishing is because the society especially those living near water bodies depend on fish as their main source of food; to satisfy this need from a big population, fishermen end up overfishing. However, the high demand for fish due to its nutritional value also leads to overfishing. (Fish is rich in omega 3, proteins, vitamins A and B2 and other minerals).Human beings should otherwise consider other food alternatives with the same nutrients obtained from fish-eating to protect fish species from becoming extinct. Overfishing has adverse effects on the marine life ecosystem and to human life at large. Every marine organism plays a role in the balancing of the marine ecology; to thrive, these organisms require nutrients which they may depend on other organisms.

When a certain fish species are depleted due to overfishing, the ocean ecology and food chain are completely disrupted. This eliminates predators and allows the uncontrolled growth of prey. After some time, there will be a great change in the marine ecosystem as a result of certain targeted fish species becoming extinct and the other types of fish in the food chain being the next target. In addition to this, overfishing results to harvest of endangered untargeted species; this may include marine species or little or no economic value alongside sea mammals which are thrown away on the shore (Kurlansky, 2015). Moreover, unmanageable fishing practices, together with over fishing, have left our oceans with no productive fish. Individuals who depend on fishing for economic purposes are left with no job a situation that would have been controlled by setting fishing limits to control overfishing thus giving fish species in water bodies' time for regrowth and hence multiply and become sustainable.

Marine pollution occurs when harmful substances such as chemicals and toxic wastes from industries are introduced into the ocean as well as agricultural runoffs and oil spills. Duarte, (2014), described oil spillage as the major marine pollutant. According to Kuhn et al.,( 2014) of the four causes of oil pollution in oceans, human activities contribute to more than 50% of the pollution sources. These include extracting oil from sea offshores, releasing some oil spills into the ocean. Secondly, major and small oil spills have been reported while transporting oil by the sea. Natural oil seeps with their sources from the sea beds contribute greatly to ocean oil pollution. This oil spread all over the sea, causing a negative effect on marine organisms.

Oil endangers marine life in many ways; first, the movement of fur-bearing marine mammal and birds is interfered with if oil spills on their fur. Besides this, their insulating ability is also wrecked; this makes it difficult for these organisms to maintain body temperature and may eventually die. The oil contaminates food fed by marine organisms (fish feeding on shallow water included) making them susceptible (Walker & Livingstone, 2013). Oil spills also prevent light and oxygen penetration into the water. When the fresh flow of air is blocked oxygen present in water is depleted additionally oil clogs fish gills, causing them to suffocated and die. Marine plants which depend on light for photosynthesis are limited by light insufficiency; this affects the marine food chain. Apart from this, oil sweeps away the every particle at the shore that fish living at the shallow ends and other marine organisms depends for food.

Toxic materials from industries, fertilizers runoff from the farms, waste matter from sewage and domestic waste are some of the human activities that cause ocean pollution. The lowest organisms in the food chain consume these chemicals; the toxins are transferred other organisms in the food chain that feeds on the small fish and other small organisms and are finally consumed by human beings feeding on fish that is contaminated by the toxins. As a result, long-term health problems like cancer, amongst other disorders befall a man. Plastic ocean pollution is another great risk to marine life. Plastic bags, cans, and bottles find their way into the ocean as a result of poor disposal methods. This plastic material causes numerous hazards to marine organisms (Kuhn et al., 2015). Sea turtle are attracted to floating plastic bags which looks like jellyfish, (one of their favorite treats) once they feed on the plastic materials their digestive system gets affected leading to their death. Since these pollutants float on the water surface, sea mammals drown and die as they get entangled with old nets. Other sea creatures, for example, some fish species, eat micro plastic items which end up affecting their digestive system causing them a slow and painful death.

Whales are at the top position in of the marine food chain; they play an important role in the ocean environment and ecosystem. They help maintain a stable food chain as well as making sure no sea species overpopulates the ocean hence regulating food flow in this ecosystem. Furthermore, whales regulate numerous marine communities; when they die, their carcasses are a source of food for the deep-sea marine creatures. Whale's carcasses also provide habitat for marine organisms found at the bottom of the ocean (Walker & Livingstone, 2013). In addition to this, whales play a major role in global warming and climate change at large. Oceans controls earth's temperature by absorbing sunrays as well as carbon dioxide emitted to the earth's surface; these two factors contributes greatly to the global warming (Duarte, 2014). W hales have the potential of absorbing carbon dioxide and accumulating the gas into their bodies, which is later transferred to the seafloor when it dies; (whales have a long life span). Whales also help in mixing and spreading of important nutrient such as nitrogen to the various layers of the marine environment. Besides this, whales excrete flocculent-fecal plumes which encourage the growth of marine microorganisms such as plankton and phytoplankton necessary in the marine food chain. If human beings put efforts in conserving and protecting whales, with the abolition of whale fishing for its products, the world will be able to control effects of carbon dioxide accumulation which often results to increased earth's temperature that causes climate change (Hoegh-Guldberg, 2010).

There are several types of food that provide similar nutrients like those found in a fish. These food range from animal and plant's product to different types of fruits. For proteins, individuals can obtain these nutrients from legumes such as peas, beans, and green grams. Animal proteins, including milk, eggs, and meat, are good sources of protein. There are also many sources of omega-three nutrients commonly used by vegetarians, which can provide a good alternative to fish-eating. Foods such as soybean oil, kidney beans, flaxseeds, walnuts, seaweed, and algae are alternatively best sources for omega three nutrients. Likewise, for essential mineral elements such as calcium, iron, and phosphorus, human beings have a wide variety of greens to choose from as substitutes (Rideout & Kosatsky, 2017). Green plants such as vegetables for example spinach and kales are rich in iron and calcium minerals. Vegetables are also a rich source of vitamins; carrots and fruits such as oranges provide sources for vitamins and can, therefore, serve as best vitamin alternatives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, marine life has a great effect on human life; this is evident in the various relationships between marine life and life on earth. If marine life is jeopardized then the impact affects even on the human beings. For this reason, human beings need to protect marine organisms by practicing good fishing methods. They should adhere to the policies and rules governing fishing to safeguard future marine life. Though we are living in hard economic times and every person is in the run to look for money; that does not means we exploit the available resource; everything has a limit. This will reduce and prevent overfishing, and hence, fish species will not become extinct or under populated, creating a favorable marine ecosystem. Proper waste management should be put into consideration with industries treating their waste materials before releasing them into oceans and seas. Moreover, plastic papers and plastic containers should be recycled or reused (plastic materials are non-biodegradable hence do not decompose) to stop them from getting into the oceans.

Reference

Duarte, C. M. (2014). Global change and the future ocean: a grand challenge for marine sciences. Frontiers in Marine Science, 1, 63. doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00063

Hoegh-Guldberg, O., & Bruno, J. F. (2010). The impact of climate change on the world's marine ecosystems. Science, 328(5985), 1523-1528. DOI: 10.1126/science.1189930

Kuhn, S., Rebolledo, E. L. B., & van Franeker, J. A. (2015). Deleterious effects of litter on marine life. In Marine anthropogenic litter (pp. 75-116). Springer, Cham.

Kurlansky, M. (2011). The world without fish. Workman Publishing.

Rideout, K., & Kosatsky, T. (2017). Fish for dinner? Balancing risks, benefits, and values in formulating food consumption advice. Risk Analysis, 37(11), 2041-2052. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12769

Walker, C. H., & Livingstone, D. R. (Eds.). (2013). Persistent pollutants in marine ecosystems. Elsevier.